Dreaming of disturbing things?

[CeliVega]

Have you ever have a dream that got you really worried? Not just any nonsensical dreams, like movie stars appearing, but dreams about something that might really happened in real life? Sometimes I would dream about a death of someone I hold dear(who is still alive), which disturbs me. Like, why that dream? Why am I even dreaming of things like that? They said you often dream of things that you always do and think when you are awake, but I hardly think of him dying!


And then there's another kind of dream where I thought only happened in movies: the kind that you are so scared (in the dream) that you woke up screaming and sweating. I dreamed of being accused and humiliated in workplace/ family gathering/public place, and then they would stabbed me in the dream. What's up with that? I don't even attract that much attention in real life, why a dream like that?


Do you believe that there's a kind of message behind all the things we dreamed about? And what about you all? Ever had interesting dreams that impacted you in real life?

 

[KellyLake]

Dreams are nothing but big messy rendering of our thoughts and emotions during the day. I also believe that our dreams serve as a vessel to release the emotions that we bury during our waking hours. For instance, if you constantly have dreams where you are being chased by horses, you might be experiencing a life situation in which you feel trapped or helpless, and that surge of emotions you are feeling during that dream are the same emotions you are burying deep during the day.


You're dreams sound pretty common for a person with anxiety. Your dreams are expressing very normal fears - fears of losing a loved one, of being rejected or humiliated. I definitely have some pretty messed up dreams as well, so you're not alone! I also experience frequent night terrors (waking up sweating and in a panic, like what you described). From what I have read, being on a normal sleep schedule and avoiding caffeine would help with the night terrors, but I cannot confirm or deny that.

 

[rz3300a]

Well I have seem to have a very hit or miss experience when it comes to remembering my dreams, and either I wake up fully thinking these things are happening, or I cannot remember a thing. I am sure it depends on a whole lot of various things, which is interesting to think about. I do not think that I really have disturbing dreams all that often, although I did have a particular one not too long where I did something that I cannot do, and I really was worried that I did it when I woke up. Just a scary, but interesting again. Thanks for sharing.

 

[HappyKoi]

I have those quite often. When I dream about work, I usually wake up anxious and it takes me some time to calm down enough to go back to sleep. Sometimes I dream that I'm being chased after a very stressful day. I used to dream about taking a bath or shower and having my parents or relatives walk in on me. I talked to my clergy/therapist about that one, and he gave me a meditation about setting boundaries and locking the door to do every day, and now that sort of thing doesn't happen in my dreams anymore.

 

[Aree Wongwanlee]

No, not for a very long time. When I was a kid, yes. But then again, those were childish nightmares. Now that I am an old man, disturbing things don't come in dreams anymore. They come in broad daylight. Like, for example, the way the world is heading towards all kinds of self-made disasters. These are very disturbing things. And they are happening in real life.

 

[thecorinthian]

I've once dreamt that I was dragging a body of bones with my brother and we were supposed to sell it. I think we killed this person first though and let it sun-dry in the desert while the vultures feasted. When I woke up I was sweating. The dream I hate most though is the one where you dream about falling and wake in bed with a shock. I get stressed enough in real life that I don't need it in dreams.

 

[gracer]

I always have these kinds of dreams and they do stress me out whenever I wake up. The emotions I feel in the dreams are so strong that they seem to be so real whenever I wake up. I have a lot of dreams that seem to come true within the day or the day after though. And that's what really freaks me out a lot. They don't exactly happen like the way I dreamed them but they do happen, and when they do, that's when I begin to realize what my dream the night before really means.

 

[Panic57]

Ever since I was a little girl, I've only had two types of dreams, nightmares or blackout dreams. So disturbing is my default dream. I think the newest nightmare had to do with me trying to find my way out of this industrial building. Every time I opened a door, I would see something disturbing before i would shut it and leave for the next one. I woke up before I completed it but i was disturbed enough to remember it after I woke up.

 

[John Snort]

Do you believe that there's a kind of message behind all the things we dreamed about?

I've heard theories which claim that there are dreams which once interpreted could have some sort of message. I believe that dreams just are thoughts that are buried deep in our subconscious. And when they surface, we see them as dreams. They could be symbolic representations of our fears, something else or just nothing at all. I've had dreams of being attacked by a panther but there are no panthers in the area I live or anywhere else I've lived. Did the dream have some hidden meaning? I don't think so.

 

[pwarbi]

Most people in the world will dream or have nightmares at some stage of their life, and in usual circumstances then it's nothing to worry about. If they are nightmares then obviously while they aren't pleasant, they are easily forgotten, but if you are having recurring nightmares about the same thing for days and sometimes even weeks and months on end, there is obviously an underlying problem there that might need looking at.


I'm not saying that everyone who dreams or as nightmares will need therapy, but if the dreams and nightmares you are having are starting to affect your life as a whole, then don't rule out getting the help you need to overcome it.

 

[Azelma]

I used to remember my dreams very vividly and with detail, but that has almost completely stopped during the past couple of years. I wonder if it's some medication that isn't directly related to sleeping, because those are the only ones that have changed in that time frame.


Some years ago I found an interesting phenomenon by accident: when I would go to sleep with my wool socks on (because my feet are terribly cold almost all the time), I would sometimes wake up from a nightmare and notice that my socks were still on and my feet were burning up (usually I kick the socks off during the night). So, hot feet = nightmares? Could we get some studies on this?


I actually miss nightmares now. Heck, I miss any dreams. It's very rarely now that I remember anything when I wake up, and even then it's more like how the place in the dream felt or what the people were like, nothing specific.

 

[kgord]

I don't have nightmares very often, but the last time I did, I was watching Scream..the TV series before bed. I would say there is a direct correlation between that and my nightmare! I think that it is just one of the things that I might need. It is just one of the options that I have control of. As a person who has anxiety it was not very smart of me to watch something that would be disturbing to me. Even your viewing can have an affect on you.

 

[whysewserious]

It has been years, but I used to have dreams in that fine line between being fully asleep and fully awake, where what was actually happening in the real world bled into my dreams. In one such case, there was a thunderstorm happening and the thunder and lightning became flashes of explosions and ammunition going off. Fighter planes were swooping down into my street and taking off. I will spare the long story, but it was so vivid, I thought it was real. In it the world ended. When I woke up it took me a few moments to realize that I was indeed still alive, but I called everyone who was in that dream with me that day to make sure they were fine as well.


The good news is, it was just a dream. I know the science surrounding dreams is still a massive work in progress, but I usually take them as manifestations of a stimulus I recently received or thoughts I have been pushing down. When I have a nightmare, if I remember the contents, I use it as an opportunity to explore what is happening in my head.

 

[CeliVega]

Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone. I just remembered something though. Apparently my dreams don't like energy drink or caffeine. There's a few time when I need to rely on coffee or energy drink for work, but the truth is I hardly notice their effect after a few tries. Instead of having positive impact on me, I got more negative side effects by drinking energy drink or consuming caffeine. For some reason they got my chest pumping a lot faster, and it usually stay that way for hours. And when I try going to sleep in that state, I got nightmares. Lots and lots of them. Not a good experience.


Is it just me or does this happen to anybody else? Does drinking anything special the recipe for nightmare at night? I don't know what exactly cause this, the drinks? Or the fast beating heart? Well, after those unpleasant experiences I don't think I will give energy drinks another shot again.

 

[Azelma]

Is it just me or does this happen to anybody else? Does drinking anything special the recipe for nightmare at night? I don't know what exactly cause this' date=' the drinks? Or the fast beating heart? Well, after those unpleasant experiences I don't think I will give energy drinks another shot again. [/quote']
I don't drink anything with caffeine after six pm anymore, don't know if that's had an effect. I say anymore, because it's a fairly recent change (the doctor wanted to cut down on my sleep related medications, something I'm gonna have to see him about now actually ). But depending on your sleep schedule, try to stay away from caffeine for at least five hours (this recommendation varies in length every time I read it somewhere, but I'm sticking with six pm myself ).

 

[fcuco]

As I grow older, my dreams, turn more real, if that makes any sense to you. When I was a kid I used to dream about ghosts and monsters, now I have dreams about family members dying and being attacked not by monster but by thieves and criminals, and guess what, that makes the dream, well, nightmares really, much more terrifying!


Luckily I am not a persons that dreams a lot, or at least I usually don't remember my dreams, unless I lose something, like some keys or a cellphone in real life, then I am sure that I would have a dream where I find the missing object just to wake up and realize that it continues to be lost, that's a very refined and cute torture technique that my brains plays on me.

 

[Cheryl Michaels]

I actually remember reading if you eat a lot of cheese at night tha you will have weird dreams. I'm not sure if its a myth, but I know cheese contains tyramine which they say can alter your dreams. It has happen to me, whether it was a coincidence or not, who knows.

 

[Lisha11]

I often experience nightmares and really strange dreams. So much so that it really started to affect my sleep and me even wanting to go to sleep. It put a lot of extra stress and unease on my mental health. I try to mediate and put peaceful and soothing background music on just before I sleep. It really helps me to relax. I cant say they ave completely stopped but there is definate improvement.

 

[Ashley0323]

I have experienced things like this before. Sometimes I have horrid nightmares that do not even make sense, nothing peaceful, thats for sure. People dying, morbid deaths. Other times, its things that I know and fear that could totally rip apart my life, and things I fear. I have had dreams of being in large crowds with my kids, and them just disappearing. I typically wake up right after and my entire day is ruined and I am stressed because of it.

 

[CeliVega]

As I grow older, my dreams, turn more real, if that makes any sense to you. When I was a kid I used to dream about ghosts and monsters, now I have dreams about family members dying and being attacked not by monster but by thieves and criminals, and guess what, that makes the dream, well, nightmares really, much more terrifying!
Luckily I am not a persons that dreams a lot, or at least I usually don't remember my dreams, unless I lose something, like some keys or a cellphone in real life, then I am sure that I would have a dream where I find the missing object just to wake up and realize that it continues to be lost, that's a very refined and cute torture technique that my brains plays on me.

Is this what we called adult fear? When we are exposed to the adult life, we grew to be more aware of how the world works and we change to be worried about realistic problems that might actually be a threat to us instead of far-fetched worries like the ghosts and monsters you mentioned. Like the dreams you mentioned you are having recently: dreams about family members dying and being attacked by thieves and criminals. Isn't these the fears that adult usually have?


Fears of financially stability, fears of the safety of your children or loved ones, fears of the loyalty of your friends and colleagues, fears of dying yourself and be a burden to your loved ones. Funny how the monster under the bed didn't disappear but merely taken another form......